Project Practice Advisor (Laajverd)
Dr Zahra Hussain is the founder and director of Laajverd and runs the Laajverd Visiting School program and holds a PhD in Cultural Geography from Durham University. She is currently a part-time post doctoral fellow on the ERC funded project ‘Topological Atlas’ based at TU Delft in Netherlands. She has been co-investigator on a number of UKRI GCRF funded projects such as ‘Resilient Silk Route Heritage Network’ and ‘Fragile Heritage Ecologies’ working closely with and training numerous community members and early career academics in conducting participatory design practices to ensure ethical and contextually informed interventions for the protection of cultural heritage in local landscapes. She curated the ‘Imagined Futures’ exhibition showcasing works of artists and craft makers in Central and South Asia. The exhibition was physically displayed in Peshawar, Dushanbe, Bishkek, Tashkent and Durham. Recently, she exhibited at the 17th Istanbul Biennale in Turkey. Dr. Hussain has proposed the Heritage Tourism Policy to the Govt of GB and led numerous residencies facilitating an interdisciplinary and cross-curricular environment enabling local practitioners, academics and civil society members to exchange knowledge and learn from each other.